The Port Authority of Allegheny County’s ConnectCard payment system will be inaccessible to most transit riders for at least two days next week, officials said.
Officials are urging customers either to load more cash or credit to their cards by Tuesday, or be prepared to pay fares in cash.
Starting on Wednesday, March 6, the ConnectCard online portal and retail vendors will be unable to sell or reload cards during a planned outage while the system is updated, Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said. Customers won’t be able access their accounts or view their remaining balances.
Please plan ahead so that you have fare on your card during this time. We will provide updates and let you know as soon as the online portal is back up and running. We apologize for any inconvenience, and appreciate your patience while we make these updates.
— Port Authority PGH (@PGHtransit) February 25, 2019
ConnectCard kiosks at bus and “T” light-rail stations will remain online but only accept cash.
The Downtown Service Center still will accept cash and debit/credit payments.
The upgrades are expected to take two or three days.
On Friday, Port Authority reported minor problems with kiosks at several stations, including Dormont Junction, Penn Station, Crafton and Homewood. Customers still should be able to access at least one working machine at those sites, and the malfunctioning ones should be repaired soon, Brandolph said.
Many ConnectCard machines are experiencing technical issues, including at Dormont Junction, Roslyn, Atwood, Heinz, Penn Station, Gateway, First Ave, Mon Incline, Deasy, Crafton, and Homewood stations. We are working to address the issues.
— Port Authority PGH (@PGHtransit) March 1, 2019
The ConnectCard kiosks malfunctioned to a much larger scale amid late January’s record-breaking cold snap. Port Authority told riders who were unable to load their cards during last month’s unexpected outage that they could ride free until the issue was resolved.
Free rides won’t be an option during the outage planned for next week.
